Mortality in COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome and corticosteroids use: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Syed Shahzad Hasan, Toby Capstick, Raees Ahmed, Chia Siang Kow, Faizan Mazhar, Hamid A Merchant, Syed Tabish Razi Zaidi

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

191 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objectives: The acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) secondary to viral pneumonitis is one of the main causes of high mortality in patients with COVID-19 (novel coronavirus disease 2019). We systematically reviewed mortality in COVID-19 patients with ARDS and the potential role of systemic corticosteroids in COVID-19 patients. Methods: Electronic databases and country-specific healthcare databases were searched to identify relevant studies/reports. The quality assessment of individual studies was conducted using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Country-specific proportion of individuals with COVID-19 who developed ARDS and reported death were combined in a random-effect meta-analysis to give a pooled mortality estimate of ARDS. Results: The overall pooled mortality estimate among 10,815 ARDS cases in COVID-19 patients was 39% (95% CI: 23–56%). The pooled mortality estimate for China was 69% (95% CI: 67–72%). In Europe, the highest mortality estimate among COVID-19 patients with ARDS was reported in Poland (73%; 95% CI: 58–86%) while Germany had the lowest mortality estimate (13%; 95% CI: 2–29%) among COVID-19 patients with ARDS. The median crude mortality rate of COVID-19 patients with reported corticosteroid use was 28.0% (lower quartile: 13.9%; upper quartile: 53.6%). Conclusions: The high mortality in COVID-19 associated ARDS necessitates a prompt and aggressive treatment strategy which includes corticosteroids. Most of the studies included no information on the dosing regimen of corticosteroid therapy, however, low-dose corticosteroid therapy or pulse corticosteroid therapy appears to have a beneficial role in the management of severely ill COVID-19 patients.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1149-1163
Number of pages15
JournalExpert Review of Respiratory Medicine
Volume14
Issue number11
Early online date31 Jul 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2020

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